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A thought by Rick Warren (2008-11-04)
from his book, The Purpose of Christmas (Kindle Location 532). Howard Books. Kindle Edition.
(Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) So what do you mean to save you?I’m glad you asked. Rick says, “He wants to save you from
sin and self, save you for his purpose, and save you by his grace, through
faith. But you’ve got to relax, quit trying to save yourself, let go, and trust
your Savior to do it for you.” Earlier he said, “As a young man, I was
a lifeguard for three summers. People panic when they sense they are drowning
and typically flail their arms around, grasping for anything. Every lifeguard
knows that if he tries to rescue someone who’s still full of adrenaline and
fearfully trying to save himself, the victim will likely pull the lifeguard
underwater with him. An experienced lifeguard knows he may have to stay back a
foot, tread water, and wait until the drowning person gives up. Then it becomes
quite easy to make the rescue.…

A thought by Rick Warren (2008-11-04)
from his book, The Purpose of Christmas(Kindle Locations 185-186). Howard Books. Kindle Edition.(Kindle Locations 212-213). Howard
Books. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy
the book.) Our picture of who God is and how he
acts goes a long way in our having any kind of relationship with him.Rick says, “Many people feel that God is
secretly out to ‘get’ them— that he is constantly playing a game of ‘Gotcha!’
and just waiting for them to mess up and fail so he can say, ‘I told you so!’
They imagine God as some kind of sadistic cosmic grouch who enjoys frustrating
our plans and is always looking for ways to criticize, judge, or get even with
us. But God himself says in Jeremiah
29: 11 NLT, “’I know the plans I have for you,”’ says the Lord.“‘They are plans for good and not for
disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’” Rick goes on, “No one wants what’s best
for you more than God. No one knows better what will make you truly…

A thought by Rick Warren (2008-11-04)
from his book, The Purpose of Christmas (Kindle Locations 185-186). Howard Books. Kindle Edition.
(Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I know that this time of the year can
be a very lonely time. You may feel that no one cares not even God. It can be a
very depressing time.But I have
good news for you.You are not alone
even though you feel like you are alone. You see your feelings can be wrong. Rick says, “Your emotions are
susceptible to all kinds of influences, so they are often unreliable. Sometimes
the worst advice you can get is ‘Do what you feel.’ Often what we feel is
neither real nor right. Your emotional state can be the result of memories,
hormones, medicines, food, lack of sleep, tension, or fears. Whenever I start
to feel anxious about a situation, I remind myself that fear is often False Evidence Appearing Real.” Rick goes on, “God came to earth at
Christmas to remind you that he is always with you, no matter where y…